Tire changing machine

Abstract

A tire changing machine includes a base having a pedal-operated control system located on one side, a rotating platform which defines a surface upon which wheels of vehicles can be fixed, and which is supported by the base, a column rising from the base, an operating arm hinged to an upper area of the column, which can be oriented in a plane transverse to the column and parallel to the plane of the platform, between a work position facing the platform and an opposite rest position facing away from the platform and having a hinging end and an opposite end having a connection for a device holding work tools, a selector unit being interposed between the hinging end and the column, for selecting an orientation of the operating arm in its work position.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The invention relates to a tire changing machine, particularly a tire changing machine having a selector device for accurately and repetitively orienting its operating arm, thereby ensuring that the selected orientation allows a work tool to be always accurately positioned in a predetermined contact area between a tire bead and the edge of the rim of a wheel upon which it is mounted, without damaging the rim.BACKGROUND ART[0002]A tire changing machine is known to comprise a base, typically having the shape of a parallelepiped, and having a horizontal platform mounted thereupon, which is adapted to be rotatably actuated and to receive the wheels of a vehicle lying thereupon, and locked by appropriate lock devices, in a typically horizontal position, for tire mounting and demounting. Conventional pedals are placed on a front side of the base, for controlling the functions of the tire changing machine, and a tool-holding column rises from an opposite rear si...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention aims to improve the state of the prior art by providing a tire changing machine equipped with a selector device that allows repetitive orientation of its operating arm into a selected position in quick and error-free fashion. The machine is simple and inexpensive, with an intuitive operation that makes the work of tire repairers easier, less laborious and ergonomically correct. The invention also reduces the time required for demounting and mounting tires from and to the rims of vehicle wheels, making the work of tire repairers easier, more convenient and more ergonomically correct.

Problems solved by technology

Therefore, the orientation of the operating arm is a critical step of the tire demounting or mounting process and requires accuracy and precision on the part of the tire repairer.

This prior art suffers from certain drawbacks.

A first drawback is that accurate orientation of the operating arm into the work position is typically a question of skill of the tire repairer, and since this operation is typically repeated many times in a work-day, tire repairers, in spite of their familiarity with it, tend to perform it in routine fashion and as quick as possible, thereby neglecting accuracy in orienting the operating arm.

For this reason, during debeading, any accidental contact between the edges and the work tools held by the operating arm, due to inaccurate orientation of the operating arm, will cause damages to the edges of the rims.

A second drawback is that proper orientation of the operating arm must be repeated, even considering the difference in wheel diameters, and this step requires each time a considerably long operating time, which will be multiplied by all the wheels to be treated by tire repairers in a work-day, and becomes a remarkably long time, during which no demounting or mounting can be performed, leading to a reduction of the overall number of demounting and mounting operations, and hence of the earnings resulting therefrom.

A third drawback is that, even when tire repairers mount and demount tires to and from a set of wheels having the same diameter, e.g. the wheels of a single vehicle, they shall repeat the step of orienting the operating arm into the work and displaced positions for each of them, which leads to the above mentioned drawbacks.

A fourth drawback is that, during debeading and mounting, the tire repairer is required to hold the wheel and manipulate and position it as needed and, at the same time, to control the functions of the tire changing machine with the feet to operate the pedals located on the front side of the base.

This will affect convenient operation of pedals located on the front side of the base, and the tire repairer is thus required to assume unnatural and forced positions to perform all the actions required for tire demounting and mounting.

A fifth drawback is that certain tires have very rigid beads and debeading becomes difficult and laborious for tire repairers, who will have to manually bend the beads to introduce the lever that is usually employed to lift a portion thereof between the latter and the rim edges for the debeading tool supplied with the tire changing machine to be later introduced into that portion.

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